Kvernberget (literally "Mill Cliff" or "Mill Mountain") is a barren mountain formation with a maximum elevation of . The mountain is located on the island of Nordlandet on the western edge of the town of Kristiansund in Kristiansund Municipality in

Møre og Romsdal Møre og Romsdal (; en, Møre and Romsdal) is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Trøndelag, Innlandet, and Vestland. The county administration is located in the town of Molde, while Ålesund is the ...

county, Norway. Kristiansund Airport, Kvernberget, which sits nearby, takes its name from the mountain. For a number of years, Kvernberget and the surrounding area have been popular for hiking and simple

mountaineering Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, a ...

activities, and the summit is Kristiansund's most popular hiking destination. From the summit, much of the Nordmøre district of

county may be seen in fair weather. A drinking water reservoir is located inside the mountain.

Navigation

By the early Middle Ages, there was already a need to navigate the ocean north of Nordmøre, a long time before 1742, the year Kristiansund became a town. The most important urban area of Nordmøre in the Middle Ages was the fishing village of

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, an island in the ocean north of Kristiansund. For the fishermen in the area, it was important to find their regular fishing places, so they observed the land and used mountains such as ''Kvernberget'' and other landmarks to find their way.

History

Løwenørn, a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...

mariner, described this part of the Norwegian coast in 1791–1803. He tells that Kvernberget was used by the navigators onboard ships just outside Trondheimsleia. He mentions all the mountains on shore: Skarven (on

Tustna Tustna is a former municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The administrative centre was the village of Gullstein. The municipality is located in the present-day Aure Municipality. The municipality included the main islands of Tus ...

), Stemshesten, ''Magnillberget'', Freikollen, ''Quærn-Bierget'' (an old-fashioned way to spell Kvernberget), and ''Plak-Myssen''.

Name

The name ''Kvernberget'' is probably a thousand years old, and refers to the mountain's resemblance to a medieval Quern-stone of a form which is still used in North Africa today. Fishermen working in the sea off of the island and fishing village of

navigated by the mountain, which they named after the tool they had at home, the hand mill for grinding

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. A lot of mountains along the Norwegian shore are obviously named because they look like something. ''Bjønnahaugen'' (the bears hill), on Nordlandet in Kristiansund, looks like a sleeping bear. On Averøya, west of Kristiansund, is a mountain that is called ''Bremsneshatten'', which is thought to look like a hat. Løwenørn calls it ''Plak-Myssen'' (a kind of seal), in the Middle Ages it was probably Brimill. The mountain looks like the head of a seal sticking out of the seabed.

References

{{authority control Mountains of Møre og Romsdal Kristiansund